Educator Resources

Camera Use and Equipment Management

The basics of videography. Learn the functions of a camera.

• Camera Functions
• Video Camera Tutorial
• Camera Use
• Videography for Educators

Copyright

Review the legal issues related to the music, video, and pictures in your digital video projects.

• US Copyright Laws
• Copyright Kids: Website provided by the Copyright Society with good resources and information about copyright for teachers, students, and parents.
• Public Domain: Information about using music in your video projects.

Distribution and Youth Media

Various options for your students to get their movies in front of a larger audience.

• Spy Hop Productions: Utah’s youth media organization with information about after school programs and samples of student work.
• Listen Up!:  A great resource for youth-produced media with information on film festivals, galleries, and more. Resources for educators and students.
• Guide to Festivals: Visit the Listen Up! Guide to Festivals  to find opportunities accross the country for distribution of youth-produced media.
• Jordan School District Elementary Film Festival

Equipment

Software and hardware available for video projects, including editing programs, cameras, tripods, microphones, and other equipment.

We train you on the equipment that you'll use in your classroom. Keep in mind, peripherals (audio microphones, boom poles, etc) are optional. Minimum equipment recommendations include a camera, tripod, and computer with editing software program.

Computer

• Mac or comparable PC computer with CD/DVD burner and firewire port
• Lacie external hard drive (optional but helpful with project management

Camera

• Canon ZR series Digital Video Camera
  The Canon ZR series works well. It’s affordable – make sure the model has an external mic input, offering the ability to use external microphones. The ZRs tend to have a decent-size screen, and metal threading where tripod plates are attached (metal lasts much longer than plastic).

Tripod

• Quantaray QT-100 Compact Travel Tripod

Software

• PCs (need Firewire) come with Windows Movie Maker
• Macs include the iLife Suite:
• iMovie HD
• iDVD
• Garage Band
• iPhoto
• iWe

Audio

• Headphones
• Shotgun Microphone (optional): RODE VideoMic Directional Camcorder Microphone
• Lavaliere Microphone (optional): Samson QL5
• Boom Pole (optional): RODE Mini boom pol

Cables

• RCA cable to connect camera to TV
• Necessary XLR cables to connect optional peripheral microphones to camera
• Firewire cables

Online Resources

• $14 Steadycam: The Poor Man’s Steadycam
• DIY (Do-It-Youself) Equipment:
• Lighting Brochure (ARRI) (PDF)

Galleries

Samples of online movies and tutorials for digital video projects.

• Apple Learning Interchange: Apple's online directory of student produced work.
• TeacherTube: Just like YouTube, but for educators. You can search for student produced work, or make an account and upload your own films.
• Ad Council: A great database of current and past PSA campaigns, many targeted for younger viewers. Goes great as examples to start a PSA lesson.
• KQED: Great place to find youth-produced digital stories.

How to: Editing, Audio, Video Composition, and Video File Conversion

Editing:

• Exporting a Finished Project in iMovie: Steps outlined for Mac and iMovie users to save their final projects as a .mov (movie) file. Upon completing these steps, movies can be burned to a DVD, uploaded online, or played on a computer.
• How To Center: Microsoft's Moviemaker tutorials on using special features, special effects, and other Moviemaker tools.
• How to Make Your First Movie: Windows (XP) MovieMaker tutorial outlining the steps to edit a movie with this software program.
• MovieMaker Tutorials: Video tutorials explaining how to edit video with Windows Moviemaker.
• iMovie Tutorials: In addition to editing tutorials, you can connect with other iMovie users to learn more about the software program.
• MovieMaker Resources: A teacher-created resource about MovieMaker.
• Creating and Sharing Great Movies: More information about MovieMaker editing.
• Flip Camera - Instructions for installation and use: Instructions_for_Flip_Camera_installation_and_use.pdf
• Add Greenscreen Transition in MovieMaker: Watch this video to learn how to add the greenscreen transition in MovieMaker.

Audio:

• Audio for Video, Microphones and Techniques: Explanation about vairous microphones and use of audio for video projects.
• Effective Audio: How to capture good audio.
• www.gold-software.com/download5903.html: Software program that enables users to disguise voices.

Shot Styles and Composition:

• Designing Camera Shots: How to frame interesting camera shots for film.
• The "Grammar" of Television and Film: Suggests ways in which shot composition translates to grammar.

• Framing: How to frame shots for film.

• Codec 6030: Instructions_for_Codec6030_installation_and_use.pdf

• Prism File Converter Installation: Instructions_for_Installation_of_PRISM_Video_Converter_Program.pdf
• Prism File Converter Use: Instructions_on_how_to_use_Prism_Video_Converter.pdf

Images, Video, and Sounds for Project Use

Sites where you can find images, video and audio content for your movies online. Includes websites to download copyright-free music and other digital media.

• http://freeplaymusic.com - Royalty free, copyright free music to use in projects
• http://findsounds.com - Sound effects. Find them, save them, add them to your movie.
• http://www.kitzu.org/ - Collections of media (primarily images), categorized by subject, for your students to use in the classroom.
• Soundzabound: Resource for Utah educators to find music for video projects. Access through www.uen.org (you need to log in).
• The Open Video Project: The purpose of the Open Video Project is to collect and make available a repository of digitized video content for the digital video, multimedia retrieval, digital library, and other research communities.
• Ad Council Media: Find examples of Public Service Announcements and ad campaigns to share with your class.
• Davis, CA School District: A Collection of websites containing video, audio, and other media available for use in student projects (primarily all public domain).
• Create a Book Trailer: Lesson plans, templates, a rubric, and examples of book trailers to use in your classroom.
• Musopen: Musopen is an online music library of copyright free (public domain) music. Musopen aims to record or obtain recordings that have no copyrights so that visitors may listen, re-use, or in any way enjoy music.
• Pics4learning: A useful website offering copyright-free pictures categorized in various topics, include ocean, animals, United States, and a bunch of others.
• Library of Congress: Great resource to find historical images to use for projects.

Teaching With Video

Find curriculum and other resources related to teaching digital video projects.

• Apple Learning Interchange:   Great resource to view student-produced projects and lesson plans. Linked to educational standards.
• Teacher Tube: Showcases videos produced by students and teachers related to the classroom. You can also upload your projects here.
• UEN Integrating Technology and Curriculum Resources: List of resources for teachers using video in the classroom.
• iVIE Awards: San Diego County’s film festival website with examples of integrating video into core content at all levels and a good list of resources for educators.
• Kids’ Vid and Town 4 Kids: Video production in the classroom.
• Online Storyboard Tool: This online tool helps students plan projects through storyboard development. It includes various elements of production, including setting, actors, audio, and transitions.
• Digitales: A great website to find examples of storytelling through film, in addition to other resources.
• Book Trailers: Creating a movie trailer for a book is a popular strategy to integrate the filmmaking process into curriculum.
• Teacher Lesson Plan: Book_Trailer_Teacher_Lesson.pdf
• Student Handout: Book_Trailer_Student_Handout.pdf
• Product Guide: Book_Trailer_Product_Guide.pdf 
• Graphic Organizer: Book_Trailer_Graphic_Organizer.pdf 
• Storyboard Sheet: Storyboard_Sheet.pdf
• Rubric: BookTrailerRubric.pdf
• To screen samples of movie trailers, visit Apple's Walt Disney Pictures page.
• Book Trailer Sample: Hatchet